Control apparatus



ea 1, W6? SHER EITAL 3,357,538

CONTROL APPARATUS Filed Feb. 17, 1966 INVENTORS.

NEIL 0. SH WARREN J. 0|. N a BY ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,357,638CONTROL APPARATUS Neil C. Sher, St. Paul, and Warren J. Olson,Minneapolis, Minn., assignors to Honeywell Inc., Minneapolis, Minn, acorporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 528,203 Claims.(Cl. 235-201) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention pertains to aunique structure in which a slideable member is actuated to and from anindicating position under the influence of a pressure differentialbetween two fluid ports located at opposite ends of a chamber. Theindicator is of a shape which is adaptable for stacking in an array andis unitary in nature so that elements of the array may be removed andinserted individually.

This invention relates to control apparatus and more particularly to anannunciator which is responsive to fluid pessure.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a fluid pressureannunciator which is reliable, simple in structure and inexpensive toproduce.

One of the principal problems of prior art annunciators has been theirgeneial inability to be useful either singly for individual indicationor stacked jointly for array type indication. Prior art pneumaticannunciators when used singly have been hindered by the necessity forpneumatic connection near the front of the indicator which produces ap'otruberance preventing the annunciator from being array stacked withother annunciators. Prior art array stacked annunciators have beenpermanently joined in the array which prevents individual use andhinders removal for repair and the like.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide apneumatic annunciator which can be used alone but which is soconstructed that neat array stacking is easily accomplished and when sostacked, each unit is readily removable for easy maintenance.

Briefly the invention comprises a housing with first and second ends.The first end is transparent to permit viewing of an elongated chamberwithin the housing. Located in the chamber is a sliding member which canbe viewed when it is proximate the transparent end, but is hidden byshadows when moved proximate the second end. Activation of the member isby fluid pressure routed from ports located in the second end andextending through the housing to the chamber proximate the first andsecond ends with no external protruberance.

Various other objects, advantages, and features of novelty, notindividually enumerated above, which characterize my invention arepointed out with particularity in the claims hereto and forming a parthereof. However, for a better understanding of the invention, itsadvantages, and objects attained by its use, reference should be had tothe subjoined drawing, which forms a further part hereof, and to theaccompanying descriptive matter, in which there is illustrated anddescribed a preferred embodiment of my invention.

One embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying figures inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a View on the line 11 of FIGURE ZA showing an annunciatorembodying the novel features of the invention;

FIGURES 2A and 2B are full front views showing the two possibleindicating conditions;

FIGURE 3 is a view on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2B and showing theannunciator connected to a fluid means; and

3,357,638 Patented Dec. 12, 1967 ice FIGURE 4 is the front view of anarray formed by individual annunciator elements.

In the drawings a housing 2 is shown having a transparent first endportion 4 and a second end portion 6, between which is a chamber 8.Within the chamber 8 is located a sliding member 10 with a coloredsurface 12 which can be easily seen through the transparent end 4 whenthe member 10 is proximate end 4, but which is obscure when member 10 ismoved proximate end 6. The reduction in visibility is a result of theshading effect of the chamber surface 16, which may be madenon-reflective to further reduce the light reaching the colored surface12. Surface 12 may be rounded to scatter light to the chamber surface 16when the member 10 is proximate end portion 6 and also to provide spacewhen member 10 is proximate end 4 for a pneumatic signal to push number10 toward end 6.

Activation of member 10 is occasioned by fluid pres sure. Referring toFIGURE 3, the second end portion 6 has a first port 18 and a second port20 passing through it. The second port 20 enters the chamber proximatethe second end portion 6 while the first port 18 passes through the bodyof the housing to enter chamber 8 proximate the first end portion 4. Thesquare crossection shown allows port 18 to be located in a corner and tobypass the length of chamber 8 without any external piping orprotuberences. Thus the ports operable to apply pressure to th two endsof chamber 8 do not disturb the symmetrical crossection of the housingthereby allowing neat array stacking as well ts easy manufacture anduse. In operation, fluid pressure applied to port 18 will cause member10 to assume a position proximate end portion 6 while pressure appliedto port 20 will cause member 10 to assume a position proximate to aportion 4. The ports 18 and 20 may be connected to a fluid pressuremeans such as a fluid switch 22 which is connected to a source ofpressure not shown.

Referring to FIGURE 4, individual annunciators 24, 26, 28, may be arraystacked to enable letter and numeral display.

As seen the square configuration lends itself to neat vertical andhorizontal rows in the array and yet each unit may be individuallyremoved merely by moving the unit perpendicular to the plane of thepaper. As seen we have thus provided an annunciator which, because ofthe simplicity of design and absolute minimum of moving parts isreliable, convenient to use, the inexpensive to produce.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements areillustrative of the application of the principles of the invention.Other arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example theindicator may be operated from a source of vacuum rather than pressureand liquid may be used rather than pneumatics. Also, the transparent endportion may be curved to allow viewing from the side. We thereforeintend only to be limited by the following claims. We claim as ourinvention:

1. An annunciating device comprising a housing having first and secondend portions and a chamber between said end portions, said first endportion being transparent and said second end portion having first andsecond pneumatic ports passing through it, said first port extending tosaid chamber only proximate to said first end portion and said secondport entering said chamber only proximate to said second end portion,

a member located in said chamber which is slideable between a firstposition proximate to the transparent end portion and a second positionproximate to t second end portion, activation to said first and secondpositions being occasioned by supplying a difie 3 in pressure betweensaid first and second ports respectively.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said first port extendslongitudinally adjacent said chamber within the housing.

3. Appratus according to claim 1 wherein said member has a curvedsurface that can be seen through said first end portion when said memberis in said first position.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said member has a curvedsurface that can be seen through said first end portion when said memberis in said first position.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said chamber has anon-reflective surface.

6. Apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said chamber has anon-reflective surface.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said housing has a squarecross section to permit array stacking.

8. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said housing has a squarecross section to permit array stacking.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1 and including fluid pressure meansconnected to said first and second ports supplying pressure to saidfirst port or said second port in accordance with a variable condition.

10. Apparatus according to claim 8 and including fluid pressure meansconnected to said first and second ports supplying pressure to saidfirst port or said second port in accordance with a variable condition.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 845,905 3/1907 Stocks et al 911651,400,477 12/1921 Curtis 92--170 2,866,186 12/1958 Hardesty 340-3732,869,514 l/ 1959 Gluss 925 2,890,917 6/1959 Prince 92169 3,156,15711/1964 Smith et a1. 235201 3,237,591 3/1966 Pichel 116-124 FOREIGNPATENTS 92,547 11/ 1959 Netherlands.

OTHER REFERENCES German printed application 1,174,659, June 11, 1962.

RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner.

S. A. WAL, Assistant Examiner.

1. AN ANNUNCIATING DEVICE COMPRISING A HOUSING HAVING FIRST AND SECONDEND PORTIONS AND A CHAMBER BETWEEN SAID END PORTIONS, SAID FIRST ENDPORTION BEING TRANSPARENT AND SAID SECOND END PORTION HAVING FIRST ANDSECOND PNEUMATIC PORTS PASSING THROUGH IT, SAID FIRST PORT EXTENDING TOSAID CHAMBER ONLY PROXIMATE TO SAID FIRST END PORTION AND SAID SECONDPORT ENTERING SAID CHAMBER ONLY PROXIMATE TO SAID SECOND END PORTION, AMEMBER LOCATED IN SAID CHAMBER WHICH IS SLIDABLE BETWEEN A FIRSTPOSITION PROXIMATE TO THE TRANSPARENT END PORTION AND A SECOND POSITIONPROXIMATE TO THE SECOND END PORTION, ACTIVATION TO SAID FIRST AND SECONDPOSITIONS BEING OCCASIONED BY SUPPLYING A DIFFERENTIAL IN PRESSUREBETWEEN SAID FIRST AND SECOND PORTS RESPECTIVELY.